A well-designed Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) has all the tools and services that are required to create and manage user accounts, social networks, discussion groups, news, announcements and more.

Using a VLE, teachers can keep track of assignments and file submissions, monitor quizzes, tests and exams, grade and receive proper feedback, etc., in one convenient place. They can also create courses with activities and assessments that are consistently organized and are easy to follow. The course content can be quickly and easily updated and adjusted and students and teachers can follow a clear, concise timeline of activities and projects, see what’s scheduled ahead and review work for critical reflection, all in one place.

Many university campuses have adopted VLEs to create a virtual classroom where students and teachers share information. A new entrant to the VLE market, Easyclass, appears to be the new trend and has been growing exponentially not only in the higher education institutions but also in the K12 schools.

Why would teachers use Easyclass?

Easyclass provides teachers with a number of benefits that help them with their teaching and make their teaching experience much more efficient. The efficiencies offered by Easyclass are:

Cost effective: Easyclass simply does not cost a penny to educational institutions; it is a completely free platform.

A streamlined process: Teachers can have all their communications with students including feedback on assignments and grades at one place. They can send messages or make announcements to groups of students. They can provide feedback to individual students or groups of students on their assignments, activities and learning outcomes. Teachers can also communicate with each other and plan, co-ordinate and collaborate on activities in an easy way. Easyclass.com reduces the use of paper by making everything available online and allows teachers to add, remove, store and delete course materials within the course space instead of managing them in multiple locations.

Save time: Teachers can use electronic grade books to grade students’ work and students can access the grades whenever they want in a secure manner. The grade books can be accessed anywhere provided there is an Internet connection. A grade book is highly efficient and it auto-calculates individual assignment or exam grades and also the overall grade. Electronic grade books ease the task of teachers and help them work in a more efficient way.

Enhance collaboration: Students can access everything that a teacher posts such as study resources, announcements, grades and more anytime they want. From within the course space, students can communicate with their fellow classmates. Students who are absent for a class can check the updated content, schedules, announcements and more without the need for requesting information individually. Students can stay up to date with information and can access websites, blogs, videos and other multimedia.

Engage students in discussions: Those teachers who have a large class can engage their students effectively by creating a discussion board. Students can collaborate on group projects or team work with the help of discussion boards. They also help involve students who are hesitant and inactive in class. Students can discuss their doubts with the teacher and help each other by being part of the discussion boards.

Optimize learning: Teachers can use assessment tools to decrease their grading load and create auto-grading quizzes, exams and reviews. With this, learners can get their results immediately and teachers only need to analyze the results. The results are automatically entered into the database to further simplify tasks and save time. Analytical tools can also be used to examine test results to look for areas where the quality of instruction, learning resources, activities, and curricula could be optimized or improved.

Reduce workload: Teachers can create a dropbox for students to submit their assignments at one place and stop lugging around stacks of assignments or tests that need to be graded. They just need to log in to www.easyclass.com to access student submissions.

A Virtual Learning Environment can have various benefits for educational institutions, universities and K12 schools. How else do you think using a system like Easyclass could benefit teachers and professors? Share your views in the Comment Box below.

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EdTechReview (ETR) is a community of and for everyone involved in education technology to connect and collaborate both online and offline to discover, learn, utilize and share about the best ways technology can improve learning, teaching, and leading in the 21st century.

EdTechReview spreads awareness on education technology and its role in 21st century education through best research and practices of using technology in education, and by facilitating events, training, professionaldevelopment, and consultation in its adoption and implementation.

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